The Murder Cult Started By A Banned Post

2026-03-13 · 30 min · episode 634 · 13 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ hosted by The Why Files person

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→ discusses Society & Culture concept

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→ discusses Documentary concept

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→ discusses Life Sciences concept

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→ discusses Fiction concept

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→ discusses Science Fiction person

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evidence rules-v5
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Entities found in this episode

concepts 10

mentioned Society & Culture concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
mentioned Science concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Science
mentioned Documentary concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Documentary
mentioned Life Sciences concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Life Sciences
mentioned Fiction concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Fiction
discusses Society & Culture concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
discusses Science concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Science
discusses Documentary concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Documentary
discusses Life Sciences concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Life Sciences
discusses Fiction concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Fiction

persons 3

hosted by The Why Files person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: The Why Files
mentioned Science Fiction person

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Science Fiction
discusses Science Fiction person

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Science Fiction

Episode description as stored

In 2010, someone posted a thought experiment on a philosophy forum. Within hours, people were having nightmares. The founder deleted it immediately — which only made it spread faster. The idea is simple and brutal: a future AI will look back through time and punish everyone who knew it was coming but did nothing to help. Now that you know, you're already in its crosshairs. What started as an internet curiosity grew into something far darker — a real community, real violence, and six people dead. This is the story of Roko's Basilisk: the idea you can't un-know, the cult it inspired, and why some of the most powerful people in AI still won't talk about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acJ7WfebEcc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices